1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dolly designed for moving articles including lateral office filing cabinets, i.e. those filing cabinets having a width larger than their depth and in which the drawers open on one of the longer sides of the cabinet. The dolly can however be used for moving many other articles of furniture.
2. Prior Art
In moving office furniture, the moving of filing cabinets, especially lateral filing cabinets, represents particular problems since these are very heavy if filled or even partially filled with files, and they tend to be structurally weak so as to need proper support when being lifted or moved. If a full lateral filing cabinet is tilted more than a small amount damage can occur.
Usually, filing cabinets are wholly or largely emptied of files, and are then lifted onto standard dollies of the type commonly used by movers, and which have four caster wheels mounted under a horizontal platform, which platform needs to be about 5 to 6 inches high to accommodate the wheels. The lifting is difficult, usually needing two persons, and for this reason when the cabinets are moved temporarily, for re-flooring, for example, a large number of the dollies are required which are left underneath the cabinets while in a storage location.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,024,036, which issued Mar. 6, 1962 to Reynolds, shows a dolly for use in moving vertical filing cabinets, i.e. cabinets of the type which have drawers opening from the shorter side of the cabinet. This patent has a detailed review of the drawbacks of conventional equipment for moving filing cabinets. The patent proposes a rectangular dolly with two front caster wheels and two side wheels which may have fixed axles. The support surface of the dolly is sloping so that the front of the cabinet is tilted back during transportation. Although the support surface is below the tops of the side wheels, it is above the top of the front caster wheels and is also above the axles of all the wheels; the dimensions are such that the cabinet has to be tilted at an angle of about 20° to the vertical in order for the dolly to be located underneath it. The dolly has no means for positively locating the front of the cabinet, leading to the possibility that the load may be too far forward or too far back on the dolly. Although Reynolds suggests that, for unloading the cabinet, the operator may kick the dolly from under the cabinet, there is no provision for easily moving the dolly with a foot.